Press and filter



Patented Dec. 3, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 3 Claims.

My invention relates to a combined press and filter adapted for use in removing pectinous material from fruits.

Pectin occurs in the rinds of many varieties of fruits, particularly citrus fruits, and various methods have been proposed for its extraction from these sources. I have now devised a new process and apparatus for use therewith which makes possible a more eiiicient extraction of pectin from fruit rinds at remarkably low cost and with a high degree of efficiency.

Particularly the new apparatus devised by me comprises a combined fruit press and lter which is adapted for use in connection with my new l5 process.

It is, then, an object of my invention to provide a cheap and eicient process for extracting pectin from natural sources such as fruit rinds.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a combination press and iilter for use in connection with the above process.

Other and further objects of this invention will be evident from the following specification and the accompanying claims.

Figure l is a side elevational view of my combination press and lter.

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the apparatus shown in Fig. l.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line Ill- III of Fig. 2, with parts shown in elevation.

Figure 4 is a plan View of one of the pressure plates forming a part of my apparatus, with parts broken away.

A Figure 5 isa fragmentary sectional view of one of the bags used in my apparatus.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of one of my bags showing the top in closed position and secured by a clamp.

The reference numeral 'I represents an end portion of a frame supporting the various parts of my apparatus. The end portion 'I is connected to another end portion 8 by bars I6, |I, |2 and I3. The end portions 'l and 8 each have crossportions I5, I6, Il and I8. A crank 2|] is attached to a screw 2| which threadedly engages bar I6 and which carries a head 22 which is rotatably attached to the screw 2| by means oi the pin 23 50 which engages groove 25 of screw 2|.

The head 22 rests against one. surface of a movable end board 26, a plan view of which is shown in Fig. 4. This board 26 is supported on bars Il) and I I by means of ears 21 and 28 which rest 55 upon the upper edge of said bars. A plurality of (Cl. 10U-44) similar boards 2l, 28, 29 and 36 are also provided and supported in a manner similar to 26.

These press boards or separators are for the purpose of separating a series of iilter bags 32 which holds the material being pressed and fil- 5 tered. Preferably, the. sides oi said boards which contact the bags have grooves 36 which permit the liquid expressed from said bags to flow out from between the bags and the plates. A screen 38 is placed over the grooves to prevent the said 10 bags from being pressed into the grooves 36 and preventing proper drainage of the liquid material therethrough.

The end plate 30 has a special adjustment permitting it to tilt suiiiciently to take up any 15 unevenness in the iilling of the bags. This plate is pivoted on a set screw 31 and when no force is applied by means of the screw 2| the plate tends to assume a vertical position by reason of pressure exerted by the springs 4i) and 3| which are 20 held in place by bolts 52 and 53. However when any pressure is applied by means of screw 2| the plate will tilt either Way to equalize any unevenness in the pressure.

The extensions 2l and 28 of each oi the boards 25 26 to 3U are attached together by the chain 42 as shown in Fig. l, screw eyes 43 and lll being provided in each plate for this purpose. A duplicate chain occurs on the opposite side of the press (not shown). These chains facilitate the 30 replacing of the plates in their original position after each pressing operation, since it is only necessary to move plate 26 back to its initial position, as shown, in order to properly space all of the plates. If desired the head 22 may be 35 attached to the plate 26 in which case it is only necessary to back up the screw 2| in order to return all parts to their original position.

The bags 32 are constructed from a suitable lter fabric and are supported by two bars 46 and 40 41 which when the bag is closed, are held tightly together by the clamp 48 to prevent any leakage from the bag when pressure is applied.

The material to be pressed and iiltered is supplied from the tank 50 which is divided by parti- 45 tions 6| into a number of equally spaced compartments which are drained by the series of stopcocks 5|.

In the operation of my process, pectous material such as rinds of citrus fruit are comminuted 50 to from 5 to 60 mesh (per inch) and then cooked for about 1/2 hour in a suitable amount of water and kept at a definite predetermined pI-I value. After this cooking is completed, a quantity of diatomaceous earth or other iilter aid may be added and the mass thoroughly mixed to secure uniformity.

It is advantageous to have the pulp sufliciently ne so that the cells will be ruptured during the pressing operation thus securing a high degree of eiciency in recovering the pectin containing juices from the interior thereof. However, a high degree of neness is not desirable since too much of the pulp will then become colloidal and difliculty will be experienced in filtering. It is also desirable to have the neness as uniform as possible. A. degree of neness such as given above Will be very satisfactory but I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself thereto since, obviously some of the advantages of my invention may be obtained with coarser or finer material than is included within this range.

After the lter aid has been added, or, if none is to be used, then after the cooking step the material is poured into the compartmentsv of the tank 50. Each of these compartments is of the same capacity as one of the bags 32 so that by opening the stopcocks 5i all of the bags may be filled simultaneously. After lling, each bag is closed by a clip 48 after which the pressure is applied by means of the screw 2| whereby the liquid contents of the bagsris squeezed out and ows into the removable receptacle 6G. The pectin may then be removed from this material by conventional methods.

Thus it will be seen that I have devised a new process for extracting pectin from pectinous materials and a new and very superior combination of a lter an'd press for use therewith.

I am aware that many changes may be made and numerous details of construction may be va-4 ried through a wide range Without departing from the principles of this invention, and I, therefore, do not purpose limiting the patent granted hereon' otherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

I claim as my invention:

l. A combined press and filter comprising a series of dependent porous, flexible bags, a series of vertically disposed, relatively movable press boards alternating therewith, means for applying pressure to a press board at one end of said series, the press board at the other end of said series being pivoted at its central point, and resilient means for holding said last press board in vertical position.

2. A filter press comprising a series of relatively movable press boards and a series of filter bags alternating therewith, means for applying pressure to a press board at one end of said series, the press board at the other end o said series being pivoted at the center thereof to equalize the pressure throughout the working surfaces of the press boards.

3. A lter press comprising a series of filter bags, a series of press boards alternating with said bags, a frame for sldablyl supporting said bags and press boards, means for applying pressure to a press board at one end of the series, the press board at the other end of the series being pivoted at the center thereof to equalize pressure throughout the Working surfaces of the press boards and means for holding said end press board in Vertical position.

HERBERT T. LEO. 

